Rathedaung resident released after completing sentence

By Admin 13 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
13 June 2023, Rathedaung

A resident of Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township jailed on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA) was released from Sittwe Prison on Tuesday after completing his sentence.

U Maung Bu, 39, from Khamaung Tone Village in Rathedaung Township, was sentenced to three years in prison on July 9 of last year by the Sittwe District Court under Sections 50(j), and 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law.

“I was released this morning after completing my sentence. I was detained for nearly three years. I was unfairly arrested and jailed,” said U Maung Bu.

U Maung Bu was arrested at the Kyauktan checkpoint while he was returning from Sittwe to his village in a tuk-tuk. Another passenger, U Oo Thazan, was also arrested and charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law, as well as for illegal possession of drugs. U Oo Thazan was given 15 years behind bars and is currently serving his sentence.

On May 5, Ko Wai Yan Soe, 25, from Than Chaung Village in Rathedaung Township, and Ko Maung Maung Che, 26, from Kyauktaw town, who were jailed for three years under the Counter-Terrorism Law for their alleged ties to the AA, were released after completing their sentences.

Executive director U Myat Tun of the Arakan Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Association called on the Myanmar military to release civilians arrested without any strong evidence against them.

“Everyone who was charged under either the Counter-Terrorism Law or the Unlawful Associations Act must be released if there is no evidence against them. Such arrests violate Article 9 of the International Human Rights Declaration,” he said.

More than 200 people were arrested in Arakan State and charged on suspicion of having ties to the AA during some two years of intense fighting between Myanmar military and the AA from late 2018 to November 2020. Many of them have been released under subsequent junta amnesties or after serving their time.

In the latest fighting between August and November of last year, the regime arrested 324 civilians, and released 85 of them thereafter, AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha told a press conference in November 2022.